Cardiac Muscle

A special type of muscle, unlike other muscles it never

fatigues.
It is myogenic .it does not need stimulation from brain to
contract,
Does not tolerate a lack of oxygen or nutrients and soon dies
if its supply of blood is cut off.
Coronary arteries
Some of the blood leaving the left ventricle goes to the
coronary arteries.
These arteries branch out to supply the thick heart muscle
with oxygen and nutrients.
The coronary arteries are much narrower than many other
arteries and so can become blocked more easily.
Section 5.2 The cardiac Cycle
The 4 chambers in the heart are constantly contracting
and relaxing in a definite sequence.
The cardiac cycle is the sequence of stages that take place
in one heart beat.
When a chamber is contracting it is in systole.
When it is relaxing it is in diastole.
The stages of the cardiac cycle

There are three stages of the cardiac cycle:

1-atrial diastole / ventricular diastole
2-atrial systole / ventricular diastole and
3- ventricle systole /atrial diastole.
Between heart beats the myocardium of both atria and
ventricles are relaxed. This is known as diastole.

 Both sides of the heart contract together. This means that

the atria will contract and relax at the same time and so
will the two ventricles.

Diastole

Ventricular and atrial myocardium relaxes at the same

time. Blood returning to the heart fills the atria.
The higher pressure in the atria than the ventricles,
forces the atrioventricular valves to open.
Even though the atria arent contracting, blood flows from
the atria to the ventricles.
Atrial systole
Both atria contract.
This raises the pressure in the atria, pushing more blood
into the ventricles.
The atrioventricular valves open.
More blood passes through these valves into the
ventricles.
Both semi-lunar valves are closed.
Ventricular Systole

Ventricles contract
The atria are relaxed
The ventricles continue to fill with blood
This quickly raises the pressure of the ventricles higher
than that of the atria.
Both atrio ventricular valves are forced closed
When the pressure of the ventricles exceeds that of the
arteries, the pulmonary and aortic valves are forced open.
Blood is pushed out of the heart into the pulmonary artery
and aorta.
The semi-lunar valves close, stopping blood moving back
into the heart.

Pressure changes

The events of the cardiac cycle create pressure changes.

Pressure changes are responsible for moving blood
through the heart and into the systemic and pulmonary
circulations.
Valves open or close when the balance of pressure on
opposite sides of the valves changes.
Controlling the cardiac cycle

Myogenic
contractions are
contractions
originating from
within the muscle,
rather than by the
nervous system.
The cardiac cycle
starts at the
sinoatrial node (SA node).
The SA node is a group of cells found out the top of the
right atrium which acts as a natural pacemaker and
initiates the heart beat.

The rate at which the SA node produces the waves

determines the heart rate.

 The heart rate can also be controlled by nervous impulses

and hormones such as during exercise and adrenalin.
Starting the Cardiac cycle
The SA node produces waves of electrical impulses
throughout the atria, stimulating the atria to contract
squeezing blood towards the ventricles.
The electrical activity cannot pass from the walls of the
atria to the walls of the ventricles, because it is stopped
by a wall of fibrous tissue called the atrioventricular
system.
This stops the waves of the atrial muscle contraction
continuing through the ventricle muscles as the blood
would be forced to the bottom of the heart.
There is only one location where the impulse can travel
from atrium to ventricle through the atrioventricular
node. (av node)
The AV node is another specialised group of cells.
The cells in the AVN can conduct electricity but only
shortly after a slight delay.
The delay allows time for the atria to complete their cycle.
Contraction of the ventricles

From the AVN to the bundle of His and then the

purkinje fibres.
Electrical impulses rapidly flow down the atrioventricular
septum, to the bottom of the heart.

 These fibres stimulate the muscles of the ventricles to

contract rapidly, from the base of the heart upwards.

Describe the parts played by the

sinoatrial node (SAN) and the
atrioventricular node (AVN) in
controlling the heartbeat.

1SAN initiates a heart beat

2the heart muscle is Myogenic (it
beats spontaneously without nerve
impuls3 )
3 However the Rate of beating is
conrtolled by nerves:
4 Wave of electrical activity over the atrium
5 Making both the atria to contract at the same time
forcing blood into the ventricle.
There is a small delay and then

6 -This triggers the AVN which then sends an impulse

down the bundle of His
7 this causes a wave of contraction in the ventricle from
the base upwards.-causeing the ventricle to contract.

The heart beat

 First heart beat sound lub occurs when the

atrioventricular valves close.
Second heart sound dub occurs when the semi lunar
valves close.
Cardiac output
The volume of blood from ventricles in one minute.
The volume pumped by both ventricles pumped is the
same.
The cardiac output depends on two features: how quickly
the heart is beating, and the stroke volume (amount of
blood in one beat).

Cardiac output =heart rate (min^-1) X stroke

volume (dm^3)